The Femme Romantic Hero is the complement to the Butch Romantic Hero.
She is the companion, the best friend, the lover. The presence of this
character in the story enriches 1) her fellow protagonist, the Butch,
and 2) the tale that is being told.

This is because the Femme's own unique strengths and gifts
invest the tale with additional emotion. Because the Butch Hero and the
Femme Hero are operating within two different shades of persona, the Femme
simultaneously provides contrast and enhancement to the character of the
Butch. Likewise, the Butch provides the same contrast and enhancement
to the character of the Femme. A comparison might be the white and black
of the yin and yang symbol. Each character is seen more clearly because
she exists side by side with the other.

The two lesbian leads are portrayed differently by different
writers. Sometimes, one role is scripted as clearly boyish, and the other
role is scripted as clearly girlish. More often, both leads possess an
assortment of masculine and feminine traits and are written so that each
character is presented as a blend, a more androgynous rendition of the
more traditional Butch and Femme roles. Each character's weaknesses and
strengths are revealed as they go into action. The best tales seems to
have one quality in common: the writers render emotionally rich characters
whose love for one another infuses each scene, and serves to strengthen
them both.

In an email to her fellow panel members, Jane Fletcher
put it quite nicely:

"Heterosexuality tries to get
everyone to act like half a human being, with a set of predetermined characteristics;
butch-femme keeps the same to sets but lets you pick which one you feel
happiest acting; modern lesbian lets couples mix and match characteristics.
Since 'strong', 'brave', and 'heroic' all belong in the male characteristics
set, women have a tough time getting equal roles in a heterosexual action-romance.
In lesbian action-romance we can play with things like 'strong in different
ways in different situations.'"

Each of these scenes is a very interesting glimpse into
the characters. It is fairly easy to see that the "femme" in
each case is acting beyond the roles previously designed for femmes in
lesbian fiction. For further examples, please take a look at these scenes.
We don't have time to read them now, but they are well worth examining.
The other four scenes involve actual dialogues between the butch and femme
characters; the women discuss the aggressive and passive roles and their
awareness of how they exchange which of them acts what part.